The Path of Giants

by B. T. Narro

  I didn’t see another choice. I had to trust my aim. I chucked the stone Hadley had given me. It arched high, the fire mage leaning her head back to watch it sail over her. A couple of archers looked at it curiously as it landed among them.

  The fire mage shrugged and continued to build upon her fireball. I didn’t want to turn my back on her or she would cast immediately, and the fireball was already too large to dodge. My only hope was keeping my wall up and absorbing as much as I could. So long as it didn’t kill me instantly, I should be fine.

  Her fire suddenly evaporated, leaving nothing but black soot falling to the ground. There was a strange smell to the air, like wet soil and decay. My wall of dvinia disintegrated almost instantly right after. I tried to make another, but I had completely lost my grip on mana.

  I was startled as an arrow passed beside me and struck the fire mage in her chest. She let out a sound of pain as she collapsed to her knees.

  “Go for cover, Jon!” Hadley yelled, a bow in hand. She was running to fetch another arrow on the ground, but she screamed as she stepped in a bear trap.

  I ran toward her as I heard my enemies behind me complaining that no spells could be cast. Arrows zipped around me. I couldn’t tell if I was the target or Hadley as I rushed toward her. She was attempting to crawl behind the nearest tree but wasn’t moving very fast.

  An arrow impaled her shoulder, causing her to fall flat to the ground as she yelled out. I was shot in the back of my leg and practically rolled the rest of the way to her. I half dragged and half carried her behind the tree with the use of my one good leg.

  “The healer’s injured,” I could hear Endell yelling frantically. “There, behind that tree.”

  I looked out as I was prying the bear trap off Hadley’s foot. A dozen enemies were rushing toward us.

  “Heal yourself first,” Hadley said, yanking out the arrow from the back of my leg.

  I made a quick connection to my mana just to check that I had access to it. I did here, but not earlier. I took her advice and healed my wound.

  “Face them before they leave the cursed area,” Hadley said. “Go.”

  I rushed out. Many of the men charging at me stopped and lifted their hands as if to pin me with dteria, but nothing happened. Confusion spread across their faces.

  I figured any spell I casted would dissolve as soon as it entered the cursed vicinity, so I had a different idea. I picked up a large rock with two hands. Holding it steady, I pushed dvinia hard against it one way as I pushed the other way physically. Then I suddenly released my physical hold, shoving it as hard as I could with my spell.

  It shot forward like an arrow, smacking one man in the chest with deadly force and throwing him back into two others. I picked up another rock about the same size, and this time every enemy stopped charging at me. They started hollering as they ran in various directions, colliding with each other. I used the same method as before to hurl it at the biggest cluster of them, taking out two more.

  Then I checked on the group of archers. They had no cover with the dark mages unable to provide barriers and were now fleeing as they were bombarded with arrows from every angle. I rushed back to Hadley to heal her foot and shoulder. I thought about asking for the bow, but she took aim confidently with a practiced stance and let loose an arrow, striking Endell in the leg as he looked to be escaping with many others.

  Kataleya was walking toward him with a bit of a stagger, blood running down. I rushed over to her as the rest of our enemies scattered. Endell started crawling away, dragging his impaired leg. He had a terrified look as he saw Kataleya trudging toward him.

  I got to Kataleya first. “Do you need healing?” I asked her.

  “In a moment. I need to do something first.”

  “Kataleya, I’m more useful to you alive,” Endell explained a little too calmly for my taste.

  “I know that. And I don’t care.” She cried out as she fell onto him with her dagger, burying it in his chest. There was a brief struggle between them as she stabbed him a few more times, Endell trying to wrestle her off him. Eventually he succeeded, but he had about four deep wounds in his chest by then.

  “Heal me!” he told me frantically.

  I offered my hand to Kataleya instead and pulled her to her feet.

  “Heal me!” Endell screamed, trying to cover his bloody wounds.

  “Endell Gesh,” Kataleya intoned. “The king has granted your death sentence. No one will save you now.”

  He went pale as he lost strength and fell flat to the ground. His arms went limp. His eyes rolled back.

  His face continued to hold fear as the last of his life drained away.

  I took Kataleya’s hand and close my eyes, letting my mana course through her to find every injury. She had been pierced a number of times across her arms and stomach, but it didn’t seem to be from a blade. I opened my eyes when I finished.

  “I triggered a trap of wooden spikes that swung at my torso,” she explained. “I managed to get my arms up.”

  “I’m glad you did.” I paused. I had been shocked to see Kataleya kill Endell like this. I had to make sure of something. “The king really ordered his death with no questioning first?”

  “The king has questioned enough of Valinox’s followers to know that he doesn’t tell them anything important. The demigod does not plan carefully. He’s figuring this out as he goes and using people based on whims. The king agreed with me that Endell probably knows nothing and would just lie to keep himself alive. We’re better off with him dead.” She spoke all of this as she stared at his body.

  “I see.”

  “There are many more people who need healing,” she said, then finally tore her gaze away from Endell. “Let’s go.”

  Kataleya was right. Many members of the Thieves’ Guild were gesturing for me as they squatted near their fallen comrades. There were hundreds of arrows scattered across the encampment, many sticking out of my allies. I still had a lot of work to do before this was over.

  I looked around for Eslenda briefly. Because she could cast an illusion, I had always figured she could heal as well because the same range was needed for both spells. But I didn’t see her.

  “Where did the elf go?” I asked Kataleya.

  “She claimed Souriff needed help. She and Eden went for her.” We seemed to notice at the same time that Michael and Reuben were sprinting away from the encampment together, and neither seemed to be chasing one of our many fleeing enemies.

  “Go help them,” I advised Kataleya. “I’ll heal everyone I can.”

  She nodded and took off.

  *****

  Eden followed after the elf, but she couldn’t keep up. Eslenda seemed to be as fresh as when the fight began, while Eden barely had the strength to put one foot in front of the other.

  “Hurry up, human!” Eslenda yelled over her shoulder.

  “I can’t…go any faster.” Eden struggled for breath.

  Eslenda said something in Elvish that sounded mean, then faced forward again. A gust of wind swirled around behind the elf, scooping her up and propelling her forward about twenty yards before she landed again. She picked herself up once more, and soon there were too many trees blocking Eden’s view to keep track of her.

  Eden hoped the king’s sorcerers were faring well without her and the elf. It wasn’t long ago that Eslenda had felt the presence of the demigods nearby and had announced fearfully that Souriff likely needed help. She wanted the rest of their allies to come with her, but everyone refused to leave. It was Aliana who told Eden to go with Eslenda and make sure Souriff survived. No one else put up an argument, all too busy dealing with a swarm of dteria-casting swordsmen in their faces.

  Since then, Eden had been trying to keep up with Eslenda. The elf ran as if her life depended on it. Considering how tired Eden had become from all the fighting, she couldn’t push herself to go quicker than a jog now.

  She stuck to one direction as she scanned the forest to each side. Eventually sh
e caught sight of someone in the distance, but they were too far for Eden to tell who it was. Knowing she was close, she pushed herself to go a little faster.

  A short time later, she stopped when she realized what she was seeing. Eslenda was on her hands and knees. Eden couldn’t see her face, but she was clearly injured as she tried to get up. Eden hurried forward again and saw a nearly invisible silhouette standing over the elf. Off to the side sat Souriff against the tree, her face a bloody mess. She wasn’t moving.

  Valinox must’ve kicked the elf, because she groaned in pain as she flipped over and landed on her back. There was a gash across her forehead, blood leaking out.

  “So you made it back,” Valinox said, addressing Eden. She could faintly make out that he was facing her. “You impress me, human. You will have to tell me at a later time how you got here so quickly. First you must prove yourself.” He spoke calmly. He probably thought the battle between humans was long over and that his followers had won.

  “What would you have me do?” Eden asked.

  “Kill Souriff with that dagger of yours. Stab her in the heart, and then the elf. Afterward, I’ll forgive you for all your failures and make you more important than you could possibly dream of. You’ve always wanted that, haven’t you?”

  Eden looked at the dagger in her hand. It actually belonged to Eslenda. Eden hadn’t used it once during the fight. Instead, she’d acted more as an agent of defense for the rest of her friends by making walls of dteria to protect them from arrows. She could’ve propelled her dagger into the chest of an enemy during the fight, but that would’ve only stopped one man and left her weaponless. There had been too many of them for her to take the chance.

  It had been Michael and Reuben who had slain the most enemies with their swords, while Aliana had wounded even more with her arrows.

  It turned out that Eden hadn’t ever actually killed anyone, given that Remi hadn’t died. She supposed she could start with a demigod and work her way down.

  You’ve never known what I wanted, she spoke inwardly to Valinox. I didn’t even know what I wanted until now.

  She wasn’t nervous, surprisingly. She knew what had to be done, even if it killed her. She wrapped a small amount of dteria around the hilt of the dagger, as Valinox had taught her to do. Then she let go of the weapon, suspending it in the air with her mind and tilting it, blade out.

  Eden walked closer to Souriff. She didn’t want to miss. She lifted her arm as if she was going to throw.

  “Don’t…” Eslenda wheezed, then coughed out blood.

  “What?” Valinox said in confusion. “The other sorcerers are coming. Hurry up, so I can deal with them.”

  Eden motioned as if she was tossing the dagger at Souriff, but turned at the last moment and hurled it at Valinox. It stuck into his nearly invisible form somewhere around his chest. He grunted from what sounded to be equal shock and pain. Blood ran down the dagger, giving shape to his hand as he pulled the dagger out of his chest.

  But as he took hold of the dagger, it disappeared, cloaked by his spell. It was only his dripping blood that remained visible.

  She thought she saw him fall to a knee, the blood dripping from a lower area. He groaned. For one blissful moment, Eden thought she might’ve gotten him in the heart where she’d been aiming.

  “You bitch!” he yelled as he thrust his hand out at her.

  The forest warped around her as she was propelled backward at blinding speed. Her back and head struck something hard.

  Intense pain was the last thing she remembered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  We had captured a few of our enemies, but many more had escaped. We had lost a handful of our new allies, but many more I had saved. Considering the situation we’d been put in, I thought that result was rather good.

  The rest of our enemies were dead. I had just finished healing the last of my allies’ wounds when I heard Gourfist in the distance. The roar of the beast reverberated through the forest. The Thieves’ Guild and I all stopped what we were doing and turned in the direction of the sound. He was many miles away, but he still felt too close. I was very glad I didn’t need to heal anyone else, because the use of mana could attract Gourfist.

  “Jon! Hurry!” Michael screamed as he was running back into the encampment.

  He had gone off with Reuben, Charlie, and Aliana to follow Eden and Eslenda, in case Souriff still needed help with Valinox. The panic I heard in his voice put fear into my heart.

  “What is it?” I asked as I rushed toward him.

  “Just run as fast as you can that way.” Michael pointed, out of breath. “They need your help.”

  He was clearly fatigued from sprinting here. I tried to ignore my worry of Gourfist as I took his advice and sprinted. I could hear Michael yelling Leon’s name next, but I couldn’t make out what he said. Too many people were shouting.

  Leon was the only other member of our group who had stayed behind with me. He had taken care of the more superficial wounds while I had focused on the more serious ones. It had been decided that Jennava should stay back in Koluk in case Leon was to fall in battle. Someone had to be in charge. We couldn’t risk both of them losing their lives, which reminded me just how dangerous this battle had been.

  I ran for a long while until I eventually saw my friends ahead. They were crowded around a tree. I thought it might be Souriff on the ground in the middle of their group, but then I noticed Souriff sitting with her eyes shut as if she was asleep or unconscious. Only Eslenda sat near her.

  It turned out to be Eden surrounded by Reuben, Aliana, and Charlie.

  “She’s dying, Jon!” Charlie told me with tears. “Hurry.”

  “Where’s Valinox?” I had to find out first.

  “Just heal her, then I’ll explain!” Charlie said.

  “I’m telling you, I don’t know if we should,” Reuben said. “We have to get out of here. I say heal Souriff first.”

  “I agree with Reuben,” Aliana told me.

  “There isn’t time!” Charlie yelled. “Souriff will heal herself. Meanwhile, Eden’s dying.”

  “Gourfist is coming, Charlie!” Reuben told him angrily. “Any use of mana could direct him here.”

  Eden looked disfigured, as if her spine was out of place. There was a pool of blood around her head. I bent down and checked her pulse. Charlie was right. She was barely alive.

  “Eslenda, is Souriff going to live?” I yelled to her. She was about ten yards away.

  “Yes, but we have to get her out of here. Leave the girl and heal me!”

  I heard Leon yelling from behind me. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Eden needed my attention first. I didn’t know how long we had until Gourfist came, if he was going to come here at all.

  Eden’s spine was badly broken, but it was the crack in her skull that was the most worrisome. I repaired it as well as the damage to her brain first.

  She started to groan as soon as I was done. Then that groan morphed into a cry of agony. She sounded terrified as she screamed with wide eyes.

  “Just relax,” Aliana said somewhat coldly. “Jon’s healing you.”

  “Is she going to be all right?” Charlie asked.

  I shut out the commotion of my peers as I repaired the extensive damage to her spine and the rest of her body. I was exhausted by the time I was done, but I didn’t hear Gourfist.

  “What do you have to say for yourself?” Remi asked Eden.

  “You didn’t see everything she did for us, Remi,” Charlie argued on her behalf. “We even watched her nearly kill Valinox. She threw a dagger into his chest using her dteria.”

  “Like the way she threw a dagger into my neck, Charlie?”

  Eden had her head down. “I’m so sorry, Remi.”

  Remi grabbed Eden by her dirty shirt and made a tiny fireball near her face. “I should burn you alive. You were my closest friend, and you would’ve killed me if it wasn’t for Aliana and Jon!”

  “Jon, get ov
er here!” Leon yelled as he crouched near Eslenda. “The rest of you, shut the hell up. Gourfist could be coming. Remi, put out that fire. No casting at all after Jon finishes healing. We don’t want Gourfist to feel anything.”

  I asked Leon, “Are you sure I should risk it?” Looking at Eslenda, it was quite clear she was just in considerable pain and wasn’t going to die anytime soon.

  “Heal Eslenda, and hurry.” He looked up at the sky. “We don’t know how close Gourfist is, but it’s worth risking it so she can help us fight if needed.”

  “Not Souriff?”

  “You can’t heal a demigod,” Eslenda said. “It won’t work. Hurry and heal me.”

  I wondered why I couldn’t heal a demigod and why Eslenda couldn’t heal herself. I decided to ask the latter as I let my mana find out what needed repairing within her body.

  “I don’t have the gift,” was all she said.

  I healed her quickly. Leon had Souriff on her feet by then, though she was still unconscious. He held her arm around his shoulder.

  “Help me with her, Jon. Hell, she’s heavy.”

  I took her other arm and supported her from the other side, but I almost dropped her immediately. Leon was right. She was much heavier than she looked. I couldn’t imagine us taking her very far, and we were miles from Koluk.

  “Forget it,” Leon said after just a few steps. “Set her down.”

  I tried to heal her even though Eslenda said I couldn’t, but it felt like an invisible force was pushing my mana back.

  “Why can’t demigods be healed?” I asked the elf.

  “Because of their natural resistance to all spells.”

  So that was why I couldn’t use Identify on one of Valinox’s spells, most likely. My spell was too weak to get through his natural resistance.

  “She will recover on her own,” Eslenda said. “She just needs time. It’s probably better she’s unconscious right now. It makes Gourfist less likely to sense her. Everyone take cover,” she announced.